JPH0973251A - Sheet material post-processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A sheet material capable of suppressing an increase in power consumption, an increase in noise, a shortened life of each processing means, and a decrease in productivity of an image forming apparatus due to an initialization operation. A processing device is provided. SOLUTION: After determining a processing means that requires initialization in steps S1001 and 1002, initialization is started for the processing means that is determined as the processing means that needs initialization in step S1003 or step S1007. Next, in step S1004, the detection signal from each sensor is monitored, and the completion of initialization of the bin module B1 which is the processing means that is required to start the processing operation first is waited for. When the initialization of the bin module B1 is completed, step S1005
Then, a ready signal indicating completion of preparation is sent to the CPU 2000 of the copying machine main body 201.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet material post-processing device for processing a sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus according to information notified from an image forming apparatus for forming an image on the sheet material. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to reduce the labor required for copy processing, an image forming apparatus includes an automatic document feeder for automatically feeding a document, a page alignment and a classification of a sheet on which a document image is recorded, and the like. A sheet post-processing device, a so-called sorter / finisher, or the like that selectively executes various processes such as a sorting process to be performed and a stapling process of stapling a plurality of sets of paper bundles with a stapler is attached.

This sheet material post-processing apparatus includes a sorter means for transporting a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus along one transport path, and sorting the transported sheet into each bin by moving a plurality of bins. Some of the devices include stapling means for stapling the paper sorted in each bin with staples, and storage means for taking out the paper sorted in each bin and storing the paper in a stack unit.

In such a sheet material post-processing apparatus, upon receiving an operation start notification from the image forming apparatus, initialization control is performed so as to simultaneously start initialization of each processing means of the sorter means, stapling means, and accommodating means. , When the initialization of all the processing means is completed, a preparation completion notification is issued to the image forming apparatus.

For example, in the sorter means, each bin is moved to the home position, and in the staple means, the staples are moved to the home position.

[0006]

However, in the conventional sheet material post-processing apparatus, when the operation start notification is received from the image forming apparatus, the initialization control is performed so that the initialization of all the processing means is started at the same time. , By simultaneously initializing all processing means, power consumption increases, noise increases,
This shortens the life of each processing means. Specifically, even when the processing content is sufficient to initialize only the sorter means, in addition to the sorter means, initialization is performed for other processing means not required to be initialized,
Excessive power is consumed due to movement of members and parts to their home positions in other processing means, noise is increased, and the service life of each member and part is shortened, which may shorten the service life.

Further, the initialization of each processing means is started at the same time, but since the time when each initialization is completed is different, for example, the initialization of the processing means not requested to be initialized is required to be initialized. When it takes a longer time than the initialization of the processing means being performed, the image forming apparatus needs to wait without starting the image forming operation until the initialization of the processing means for which the initialization is not required is completed. The waiting time before the start of the image forming operation becomes long. Therefore, the productivity of the image forming apparatus is significantly reduced.

The object of the present invention is to reduce the power consumption, the noise, the life of each processing means, and the productivity of the image forming apparatus, which are caused by the initialization operation. It is to provide a processing device.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In a sheet material post-processing device that processes a sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus according to information notified from the image forming apparatus that forms an image on the sheet material, the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus A plurality of processing means for processing the material, an initialization means for initializing each of the processing means, and a processing means that requires initialization among the processing means based on the information notified from the image forming apparatus. It is characterized in that it is provided with a discriminating means for discriminating and a control means for controlling the initializing means so as to initialize the processing means which requires the initialization according to the discrimination result.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the sheet material post-processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the control means monitors the initialization state of the processing means requiring the initialization, and the initialization is required. It is characterized in that the preparation completion information is sent to the image forming apparatus substantially at the same time when the completion of the initialization of the processing means which is required to start the processing operation is confirmed first among the processing means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sheet material post-processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the control means predicts a time when all the initialization of the processing means requiring the initialization is completed, and It is characterized in that the preparation completion information is sent to the image forming apparatus before the predicted time comes.

The invention described in claim 4 is the first to third aspects of the present invention.
In the sheet material post-processing device according to any one of the above, the processing means receives the sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus in a plurality of bins, and sorts the sheet material by a moving operation of each bin. A first processing unit having a bin module for storing the sheet material, and a bin module for receiving the sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus in a plurality of bins and sorting the sheet material by a moving operation of each bin. No. 2 processing means, a third processing means for taking out a sheet material from the bin and subjecting the taken-out sheet material to stapling processing, etc., and a sheet material taken out from the bin and the third processing means It is characterized by comprising a fourth processing means for stacking the sheet material subjected to the above.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the construction of an electrophotographic copying machine having a first embodiment of a sheet material post-processing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a staple / stack apparatus of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows a structure in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electrophotographic copying machine 200 includes a copying machine main body 201, an automatic document feeder 202 arranged above the copying machine main body 201, and a sheet material S discharged from the copying machine main body 201. Sheet material post-processing device 2 disposed on the side
03.

The sheet material post-processing device 203 is the folding device 2
04 and a staple / stack device 205.

The document table 20 of the automatic document feeder 202
6 are separated in order from the bottom,
Pass 20 on the platen glass 208 of the copying machine body 201
Delivered via 9. The image of the original document 207 fed onto the platen glass 208 is the optical system 2 of the copying machine main body 201.
The original 207 is read from the platen glass 208 via a path 211 after the reading is completed.
It is discharged to the uppermost surface on 06.

The image of the original 207 read by the optical system 210 is formed as an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 220 of the image forming section 213. The image forming unit 213 visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 220 and transfers the visible image to the sheet material S fed from the deck 212.

The sheet material S on which the visible image is transferred is conveyed by the conveying path 2.
The sheet is conveyed to the fixing unit 214 via 21 and the visible image is fixed on the sheet material S by the fixing unit 214.

The sheet material S discharged from the fixing section 214
The sheet material S is switched by the switching operation of the deflector 216.
Of the reversing path 217 for switching the image forming surface (surface switching in the double-sided copy mode) and the path for guiding to the folding device 204.

The sheet material S sent to the reverse path 217
The intermediate tray 2 after the image forming surface is switched.
18 and is loaded once. The sheet material S on the intermediate tray 218 is sent again to the image forming unit 213 via the re-feeding path 219, and an image is formed on the switching surface of the sheet material S.

On the other hand, the sheet material S sent to the path for guiding to the folding device 204 is usually the folding device 204.
Staple / stack device 20
The sheet is conveyed to a fifth sheet carry-in port 215.

The image forming process in the copying machine main body 201 is well known, and its detailed description is omitted. Further, regarding the folding device 204, JP-A-60-23237
2. It is the same as the folding device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-59002 and the description thereof is omitted.

The stapling / stacking device 205 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the bin modules B1 and B2 are vertically divided into two to receive the sheet material conveyed to the sheet carry-in entrance 215, and each bin module B1 and B2 has a plurality of bins B11 to B1n and B21. To B2n (n = 6 in the present embodiment). Each of the bin modules B1 and B2 is configured to be able to move each bin to a sheet receiving position and a sheet bundle discharging position by changing the bin interval and the bin position of each bin independently of each other.

The sheet carry-in port 215 has a first upward direction.
A deflector 3 for selectively switching between the transport path 1 and the second transport path 2 in the downward direction is provided, and the sheet material S entering the sheet carry-in entrance 215 by the deflector 3 is provided.
Is determined. The deflector 3 is driven by a solenoid (not shown).

The first transport path 1 is branched into a discharge path 6 to the non-sort tray 5 and a path 7 to the bin module B1 by a deflector 4 driven by a solenoid (not shown). When the transport path from the first transport path 1 to the discharge path 6 is selected by the deflectors 3 and 4, the sheet material S is transferred by the roller pair 8a, 8b, 8c to the sheet inlet 2
The sheet is conveyed from 15 to the non-sort tray 5 via the first conveying path 1. When the transport path from the first transport path 1 to the path 7 is selected by the deflectors 3 and 4, the sheet material S passes from the sheet carry-in port 215 through the first transport path 1 by each roller pair 8a, 8b, 8d to 8g. Bin module B1
Transported to

On the other hand, the second transport path 2 forms a path from the sheet carry-in port 215 to the bin module B2,
When the second transport path 2 is selected by the deflector 3, the sheet material S is transported to the bin module B2 by the roller pairs 8a, 8h to 8p.

In the space between the path 7 to the bin module B1 and the second transport path 2 to the bin module B2,
A bundle processing unit 9 is provided. Bundle processing unit 9
1 conveys the bundle on each bin in the right direction in FIGS. 1 and 2 by the first-out gripper 10, selectively staples it by the stapler 11, then nips the bundle tip by the conveyance gripper 12, and conveys it further in the right direction. Similarly, in the space between the path 7 to the upper module B1 and the path to the lower module B2, the stack unit 13 is located below the bundle processing unit 9.
Are on standby, and the stack unit 13 stores the bundle transported by the transport gripper 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the right end of the stapler 11 and the left end of the stack unit 13 are substantially overlapped in the left-right direction, and the overlapped area in the left-right direction is an area indicated by a width l15.

When the bins B11 to B16 of the bin module B1 are filled with a predetermined number of sheet bundles, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 are moved to the positions shown by broken lines in FIGS. The sheet bundle is taken out from B11 to B16.

After taking out the sheet bundle from each of the bins B11 to B16, or each bin B2 of the bin module B2.
After the operation of conveying the sheet material to the sheets 1 to B26, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 take out the sheet bundle from the bin module B2 at the positions indicated by the solid lines in FIGS.

The operation of taking out the sheet bundle is continuously repeated until the stack unit 13 is full, and the copy operation can be continued during the period until the stack unit 13 is full. The stacking height of the stack unit 13 is determined by the height from a stack tray stacking surface to be described later to the upper end of the stacker reference wall. In FIG. 2, the maximum stacking height of the stack unit 13 is set to 17.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the bin modules B1 and B2 is provided with a penetration sensor S3 for detecting the presence or absence of the sheet material S on each bin, and the detection signal of each penetration sensor S3 will be described later. Bin module B1,
It is used to determine the timing of switching B2, the copy operation start timing of the next job, and the like.

Next, a detailed configuration of each part will be described.

First, the bin modules B1 and B2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a perspective view showing a bin module provided in the staple / stack apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a top view showing a bin module provided in the staple / stack apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a bin module provided in the staple / stack device of FIG. Since the bin module B1 and the bin module B2 have the same configuration, the bin module B1 will be described and the description of the bin module B2 will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bin module B1 includes a plurality of bins B11 to B1n, two reference rods 14a,
14b, an alignment wall 15, three lead cams 16a to 16c for moving up and down each bin, and a drive unit for driving these members.

The reference rods 14a and 14b are members for determining a reference line when the post-processing such as stapling is performed on the sheet material S discharged onto each bin, and normally, the end portions at the time of sheet discharging are set. It is set at a position that is slightly retracted from the position.

The aligning wall 15 aligns the sheet materials S discharged onto the bins B11 to B1n in a predetermined number of sheets in the direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction (the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 3) to obtain the sheet materials. The S end is brought into contact with the reference rods 14a and 14b to perform alignment.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lead cams 16a and 16b are arranged on the inner side of the bin, and the lead cam 1
6c is arranged on the front side of the bottle.

A spiral cam portion is formed on the outer circumference of each lead cam 16a, 16b, 16c. Bin roller portions Ba, Bb, Bc provided so as to project from each bin are engaged with the cam portions of the lead cams 16a, 16b, 16c, respectively, and the lead cams 16a, 16b, 16c are engaged.
Causes each bin to move up and down by a predetermined pitch each time it makes one revolution in synchronization.

As shown in FIG. 4, each of the bins B11 to B1n is formed with a notch Bd corresponding to the reference rod 14a and a hole Be corresponding to the matching wall 15, and a notch Bf for a gripper described later. , Notch Bg for bin drive mechanism
A notch Bh necessary for operation is formed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the bins B11 to B1n are arranged parallel to each other and inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction. The vertical distance between the bins B11 to B1n is variable according to the conditions such as receiving and discharging the sheet bundle. For example, when B14 is at the bundle conveying position, the bin intervals of B11 to B15 are set to l17,
The spacing between 15 and B16 is set to 118.

On the other hand, each bin roller portion Ba, Bb, B
c is configured such that all the bins B11 to B1n are at the same height in a tilted state. That is, while the position of the bin roller portion Bb located on the back side of the bin is near the reference surface of the bin, the positions of the bin roller portion Ba in front of the bin and the bin roller Bc in the middle of the bin are below the reference surface of the bin. The bin rollers Ba and Bc and the corresponding bins are fixed by a V-shaped fixed arm.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet receiving position and the bundle conveying position in the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2 have an inverse relationship between the bin module B1 and the bin module B2. Therefore, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 can be commonly used for taking out the sheets from the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2.

Next, the bin shift drive will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The bin shift drive is performed by the bin shift motor M1 as shown in FIGS. The driving force of the bin shift motor M1 is synchronously transmitted to the lead cams 16a to 16c by the motor pulley 18, the belt 19, and the lead cam pulleys 20a to 20c. The lead cams 16a to 16c rotate in the forward rotation direction or the reverse rotation direction according to the forward and reverse rotations of the bin shift motor M1, and the bins B11 to B1n are moved up and down in accordance with this rotation.

The bin shift motor M1 has two output shafts. A pulley 18 is mounted on one output shaft, and an encoder 21 is mounted on the other output shaft. The rotation speed of the encoder 21, that is, the rotation speed of the bin shift motor M1 is detected by the sensor S1.

Each bin module B1, B2 is provided with a home position detection sensor (not shown) for the bin, and the home position detection sensor is provided for each top bin B1.
It is detected that 1 and B21 are located one bin below each sheet receiving position.

The switching timing of each bin module B1, B2 is performed based on the detection signal from the penetration sensor S3 (shown in FIG. 2).

Next, the drive structure of the alignment wall 15 for aligning the sheet material S on the bottle will be described.

The matching wall 15 is driven by a matching wall drive motor (not shown) including a stepping motor.
The driving force of the matching wall drive motor is transmitted to the matching wall 15 via a transmission mechanism (not shown) such as a gear and a timing belt, and the matching wall drive motor is supplied with an appropriate number of pulses to cause the matching wall 15 to move. Position control is performed. The home position of the matching wall 15 is detected by a sensor (not shown).

Next, the drive configuration of the bin standing portion that forms the alignment reference surface in the transport direction of the sheet material S on the bin will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view showing the configuration of the bin standing portion provided in the staple / stack apparatus of FIG.

Each bin Bmn (m = 1, 2, n = 1, 6)
6, as shown in FIG.
j (also referred to as bin standing portion), and the matching portion Bj
Is provided with a support shaft Bk rotatably fitted in a hole provided in the sheet stacking portion Bi. This matching section B
j is angularly rotated about the support shaft Bk between a position where it stands up at a right angle to the stacking surface of the sheet stacking part Bi and a position where it is substantially parallel to the stacking surface of the sheet stacking part Bi, and its rotation. The angle is approximately 90 degrees. When the aligning portion Bj is located at a position which rises at a right angle to the stacking surface of the sheet stacking portion Bi, the aligning portion Bj forms a aligning surface for aligning the sheet bundle stacked on the bin Bmn. On the other hand, when the aligning unit Bj is moved to a position substantially parallel to the stacking surface of the sheet stacking unit Bi, a carry-in port for transporting the stack of sheets stacked on the bin Bmn to the stack processing unit 9 is formed. It This driving of the matching unit Bj is called bin standing drive.

The aligning portion Bj is provided with a drive arm 45 for discharging the bin sheet material upward, and a pin 45a is provided at the tip of the drive arm 45.

The matching section Bj is driven by the solenoid SL1. The solenoid SL1 is supported by a base (not shown). The output shaft of the solenoid SL1 is connected to the pin 47a of the link 47 via the arm 48. One end of the link 47 is attached to a support shaft 47c fixed to the base so as to be angularly rotatable therearound, and the other end of the link 47 is provided with a pin contact member 47b.

A spring member 49 is attached to the pin 47a of the link 47.
Is attached, and the other end of the spring member 49 is attached to a base.

The link 47 is angularly rotated according to the operation of the solenoid SL1. When the solenoid SL1 is turned off, that is, in the normal state, the link 47 is moved to the solid line position shown in FIG. That is, the aligning unit Bj is moved to a position where the aligning unit Bj rises perpendicularly to the stacking surface of the sheet stacking unit Bi, and an aligning surface for aligning the sheet bundle stacked on the bin Bmn is formed.
In this position, the pin contact member 47b of the link 47
And the pin 45a are separated from each other, so that in the normal state, the bin Bmn can be moved up and down without interference between the pin abutting member 47b of the link 47 and the pin 45a.

When the sheet bundle on the bin Bmn is conveyed to the bundle processing unit 9, the solenoid SL1 is turned on after the bin Bmn is shifted to a predetermined position. The link 47 is rotated by the ON operation of the solenoid SL1, and the pin contact member 47b contacts the pin 45a. When the link 47 further rotates, the alignment unit Bj is moved to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6, and a carry-in port for carrying the sheet bundle stacked on the bin Bmn to the stapling / stacking device 205 is formed. .

Next, the bundle processing unit 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. 7 is a top view showing the bundle processing unit provided in the stapling / stacking device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 8 is a front view of the bundle processing unit of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the bundle processing unit 9 has a frame body in which the guide stays 52 and 53 and the right stay 54 are arranged between the unit front side plate 50 and the unit rear side plate 51, and Four lifting rollers 55 are crimped, two on each side. A member 5 for guiding the sheet bundle S at the time of conveying the sheet bundle is provided on the inner side of the lower guide stay 53.
3a is attached. The four lifting rollers 55 are guided in two rails 56 fixed to the main body side, a rack integrally cut with the rails 56, and pinion gears provided at both ends of a shaft 57 penetrating in the lateral direction of the frame body. 58 engages with each other, and the drive is transmitted from the elevating motor M4 to the pinion gear 58, whereby the entire frame is vertically moved up and down.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the frame of the bundle processing unit 9 is provided with a pair of sensors S23 for detecting the uppermost surface of the sheet bundle stacked on the stack tray 116 described later. ing. The respective sensors 23 cooperate with each other to form a detection optical path extending in the direction indicated by the arrow G in FIG.

Inside the frame of the bundle processing unit 9, there are arranged three moving bodies, a first-out gripper 10, a stapler 11 and a transport gripper 12. Below, these moving bodies are demonstrated.

The advance gripper 10 is configured to be movable in a direction indicated by an arrow D in FIG. Advance gripper 1
0 grips the vicinity of the right end of the sheet bundle S on the front reference side on the bin and pulls out the sheet bundle S in the direction indicated by the arrow D. The distance from the right end of the first-out gripper 10 to the leading end of the sheet bundle S is set to l4, which is set longer than the distance 15 from the left end of the stapler 11 to the leading end of the sheet bundle S.

The drive mechanism of the first-out gripper 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a drive mechanism of the first-out gripper of the bundle processing unit of FIG.

In front of the unit front side plate 50, FIG.
As shown in, the advance motor M7 is attached, and the swing arm 76 is fixed to the tip of the drive shaft thereof. A long hole 76a is formed at the other end of the swing arm 76.
The leading end of the pin member 74 interlocked with the advance gripper 10 is engaged with a. The pin member 74 is formed on the coupling plate 73, and the coupling plate 73 is supported by the shafts of the two grooved rollers 72. Each roller 72 is attached to the side surface of the advance gripper 10, and the groove of each roller 72 is the slot 5 of the unit front side plate 50.
0a is engaged.

When the advance motor M7 is driven, the rocking cam 76 reciprocates between the solid line position and the chain double-dashed line position in FIG. As a result, the advance gripper 10 moves the front plate 5 of the unit.
Grasp the sheet bundle at an inclined position along the 0 long hole 50a,
The sheet is conveyed to the horizontal position, separated from the sheet bundle at the horizontal position, and returned to the inclined position again.

The stapler 11 is configured to be movable in the direction indicated by the arrow E in FIG. 7, and the movable positions are a retracted position on the front side (a position 11a shown in FIG. 7) which does not overlap with the sheet width, and a rear side. Retreat position (position 11 in FIG. 7)
b), it is set to an arbitrary position (for example, each position 11c, 11d, 11e in FIG. 7) of the leading end of the sheet bundle.

Drive of this stapler 11 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. 13 is a left side view showing the drive mechanism of the stapler of the bundle processing unit shown in FIG.
FIG. 14 is a top view showing the drive mechanism of the stapler of the bundle processing unit of FIG.

The stapler 11, as shown in FIG.
It is fixed to the base 94. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, two shafts 96, 97 for suspending and supporting the stapler 11 pass through the slider 95 attached to the upper part of the base 94, and the shafts 96, 97 respectively.
Both ends of are supported by the front and rear side plates 50 and 51 of the unit, respectively. The slider 95 is fixed to the belt 102 by the restriction member 103, and the belt 102 is the drive pulley 10
0 and the driven pulley 101, and the drive pulley 1
00, a driving force is transmitted from a stapler forward / backward motor M10 fixed to the substrate 98 via a gear 99.

Therefore, the slider 95, that is, the stapler 11, is moved by the stapler forward / reverse motor M10 in FIG.
Is moved between the front retracted position 11a and the rear retracted position 11b in the direction indicated by the arrow J, and its stop position is between the front retracted position 11a and the rear retracted position 11b. It can be set at any position. The position is set by detecting signals from the front position sensor S11 or the back position sensor S12 and the encoder 10 of the stapler forward / backward motor M10.
4 is output based on the detection signal from the sensor S13.

The transport gripper 12, as shown in FIG.
It is configured to be movable in the direction indicated by the arrow F and to be movable in the direction indicated by the arrow G including the front and rear side plates 59 and 60 as a whole. The transport gripper 12 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow F according to the size of the sheet bundle, grips the approximate center position of the sheet width, and moves in the direction indicated by the arrow G so as to completely pull out the sheet bundle from the bin. To the stack unit 13. The movement in the F direction indicated by the arrow is performed for the purpose of sorting on the stack unit 13 in addition to the above-described sheet size. That is, when the sheet bundle is conveyed to the stack unit 13, the conveyance amount in the direction indicated by the arrow G depends on the sheet bundle size.
By changing the amount of conveyance in the direction of arrow F, it is possible to sort sheet bundles of the same size and sort between different jobs.

The depth dimension l6 of the transport gripper 12
Is set to a size such that the leading edge of the sheet bundle can be sandwiched even when the stapler 11 is operating with respect to the sheet bundle S.

Drive Mechanism of Conveyor Gripper 12 FIG.
1 and FIG. 12 will be described. FIG. 11 shows FIG.
FIG. 12 is a top view showing the drive mechanism of the transport gripper of the bundle processing unit of FIG. 12, and FIG. 12 is a front sectional view showing the drive mechanism of the transport gripper of the bundle processing unit of FIG.

The transport gripper 12 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, the shaft 77 is supported by two shafts 77 and 78, one shaft 77 is composed of a ball screw, and the other shaft 78 is composed of a normal shaft. Both ends of the shaft 77 are rotatably supported between front and rear side plates (the front side plate is omitted, the rear side plate 60), and the shaft 78 is provided.
Both ends of are fixed. Two rollers 79 on the front and rear side plates
, And each roller 79 is movably fitted in an elongated hole 51 a provided in the unit side plate 51.

First, the driving of the transport gripper 12 in the sheet bundle transport direction, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the unit side plate 51 will be described.

To drive the transport gripper 12 in the sheet bundle transport direction, a transport gripper horizontal movement motor M8 attached to the unit side plate 51 is used. The driving force of the transport gripper left and right moving motor M8 is equal to the driving pulley 8
It is transmitted to the penetrating shaft 83 via a transmission mechanism including 0, the belt 81, and the driven pulley 82. A pulley 84 is fixed to the through shaft 83 together with the driven pulley 82, and a belt 86 is wound around the pulley 84 and a pulley 85 facing the pulley 84. Since a part of the belt 86 is fixed to the rear side plate 60 by the regulating member 87, the belt 86 is rotated by the driving of the conveyance gripper left and right moving motor M8, and each roller 79 is rotated by the rotation of the belt 86 so that each roller 79 is formed in the long hole of the unit side plate 51. It is moved along 51a, that is, the rear side plate 60 is moved. Therefore, the transport gripper 12 is moved in the sheet bundle transport direction.

Next, driving of the transport gripper 12 in the direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle transport direction will be described.

For driving the transport gripper 12 in the direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle transport direction, the transport gripper forward / backward motor M9 mounted on the rear plate 60 via the substrate 88.
Is used. The driving force of the transport gripper forward / backward motor M9 is transmitted to the shaft 77 via a transmission mechanism including a drive pulley 89, a belt 90, and a driven pulley 91. Since a threaded portion that is screwed onto the shaft 77 is formed in a portion of the transport gripper 12 that is engaged with the shaft 77, the transport gripper is moved in the axial direction of the shaft 77 as the shaft 77 rotates.

The positioning control of the transport gripper 12 is performed based on the home position detection and the motor rotation amount detection. Specifically, the movement in the sheet bundle conveyance direction and the stop position thereof are detected by a detection signal from a home position sensor S7 that detects the protrusion 87a of the regulating member 87 and a reading sensor S8 of the encoder 92 of the conveyance gripper horizontal movement motor M8. The movement in the direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle conveyance direction and its stop position are determined based on the detection signal, and the detection signal from the home position sensor S9 and the reading sensor S of the encoder 93 of the conveyance gripper forward / backward movement motor M9.
It is performed based on the detection signal from 10.

Next, the structures of the grip portions of the first-out gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a view showing a configuration of grip portions of the first-out gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12 of the bundle processing unit shown in FIG.

The grip portion of the first-out gripper 10 that holds the sheet bundle and the grip portion of the transport gripper 12 that holds the sheet bundle have a common structure.

As shown in FIG. 9, the grip portion 61 has an upper gripper 66 and a lower gripper 67 which are rotatably supported by fixed shafts 65 of the side plates 62, respectively. The upper gripper 66 is urged by a spring member 71 such that its end 66a comes into contact with an eccentric cam 69 which is rotated about the shaft 64 in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure. The eccentric cam 69 is
Fixed to the shaft 64, the shaft 64 is rotated by a motor M5 (not shown). As the eccentric cam 69 rotates, the upper gripper 66 swings in the direction indicated by the arrow I.

The lower gripper 67 has its end portion 67a at the shaft 6
A spring member 70 urges the eccentric cam 68 to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. The eccentric cam 68 is fixed to the shaft 63, and the shaft 63 is rotated by a motor M6 (not shown). The lower gripper 67 swings in the direction indicated by the arrow H as the eccentric cam 68 rotates.

The opening and closing operations by the upper grip 66 and the lower grip 67 are performed by repeating swinging in the directions indicated by arrows I and H (solid line and broken line diagrams).

Next, the structure of the stack unit 13 will be described with reference to FIGS. 15, 17 and 18. 15 is a top view showing the configuration of a stack unit provided in the stapling / stacking device of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 17 is a front view showing a stack frame of the stack unit of FIG. 15, and FIG. 3 is a left view showing the stack unit of FIG.

The stack frame 105, which is the outer frame of the stack unit 13, has a rear side plate 10 as shown in FIG.
5a, left side plate 105b, right side plate 105c, bottom plate 105d
It is composed of four parts. Two elevating rollers 106 are attached to the outer surfaces of the left and right side plates 105b and 105c of the outer frame, and each elevating roller 106 is guided by a rail 107 fixed to the main body. The rail 107 can be shared by the same member as the rail 56 of the bundle processing unit 9 shown in FIG.

The left and right side plates 105b and 105c are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 18, the chains 109 are fixed by the restricting member 108, and the chains 109 are stretched over the upper and lower sprockets 110 and 111.
The lower sprocket 111 is fixed to a penetrating shaft 112, and a driving force from a stack frame lifting / lowering motor M <b> 11 is transmitted to the penetrating shaft 112 via gears 113 and 114.
The stack frame 105 moves up and down with the rotation of the penetrating shaft 112 by the driving force from the stack frame elevating motor M11.

As the stop position of the stack frame 105, in addition to the two stop positions corresponding to the two stop positions (the upper broken line portion and the lower solid line portion) of the bundle processing unit 9 shown in FIG. A plurality of positions such as a stack tray withdrawal position and a position when the stack limit number is changed, which will be described later, are set. The home position of the stack frame 105 is set to a position corresponding to the bin module B1. As shown in FIG. 15, the positioning control for the stop position is performed by the stack frame lifting motor M11.
This is performed based on the detection signal from the reading sensor S14 of the encoder 115 of.

Left side plate 105b of the stack frame 105
15 and 17, the stacker reference wall 1 that serves as a reference wall for the sheet bundle on the stack tray 116.
17 is supported so that it can be raised and lowered.

Upper inclined surface 117 of stacker reference wall 117
A guide roller 117a for preventing the rear end of the sheet bundle from remaining on the inclined surface is attached to b.
The stacker reference wall 117 is a guide roller 1 depending on the number of sheets stacked on the stack tray 116.
19 moves up and down while being guided by the corresponding guide rails 120 and 121.
Driving force from 12 (not shown) is used.

The proximity prevention sensor S16 is attached to the upper end of the stacker reference wall 117.
The distance between the stack unit 13 and the bundle processing unit 9 above it is detected based on the detection signal from. When the stack unit 13 and the bundle processing unit 9 approach each other within a predetermined distance, control is performed to stop the driving in the respective approaching directions, and their interference is prevented.

A stack height detection sensor S17 is attached to the side surface of the stacker reference wall 117, and the stack top reference sheet 117 is detected by detecting the stack top sheet based on the detection signal from the stack height detection sensor S17. Etc. are controlled.

Next, the stack tray 116 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 is shown in FIG.
It is a front view which shows the stack tray of the stack unit of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the stack tray 116 is constructed so that it can be moved up and down inside the stack frame 105, and the acculide 1 is attached to the stack tray base 129.
It is configured so that it can be pulled out in the front direction at 30. U-shaped roller receiving plates 131 are attached to both end surfaces of the stack tray base 129, and each roller 132 provided on the roller receiving plate 131 is guided by a rail 128.

A stack tray lifting motor M13 is attached to the stack tray base 129. The driving force of the stack tray lifting motor M13 is
It is transmitted to the through shaft 133 via 137. Penetrating shaft 13
Pinion gears 134 are fixed to both ends of the pin 3, and each pinion gear 134 is meshed with a rack formed so as to extend vertically in a corresponding guide rail 128. In this way, the stack tray base 129 is moved in the up-down direction while being guided by the guide rails 128 as the penetrating shaft 133 is rotated by the driving force of the stack tray lifting motor M13. That is, the stack tray 116
Moves up and down by the driving force of the stack tray lifting motor M13.

An encoder 138 is attached to the auxiliary shaft of the stack tray lifting motor M13.
The rotation speed of 8 is read by the sensor S15. The detection signal from the sensor S15 is used to control the amount of elevation of the stack tray 116.

The stack tray 116 is provided with a copy sheet detection sensor S30 for detecting the sheet bundle stacked on the stacking surface.

Next, the stopper 300 of the stack unit
The configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 15, 19 and 20. 19 is a top view showing the structure of the stopper of the stack unit of FIG. 15, and FIG. 20 is a front view showing the structure of the stopper of the stack unit of FIG.

The stopper 300, as shown in FIG.
Stack tray 116 in cooperation with stacker reference wall 117
And a mechanism for preventing the sheet bundle from collapsing.

As shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the stopper 300 is guided by a fixing member 301 which stands upright with respect to the stacking surface of the stack tray 116 and an accurride 302 provided on the fixing member 301, and the fixing member 301. And a moving member 303 that is movable in the axial direction.

A roller 308 is attached to a lower portion of the fixing member 301, and the roller 308 is movably engaged with a rail member 310 for guiding in a direction orthogonal to the side plate 105c. The rail member 310 is fixed to the bottom plate 105a. On the other hand, at the tip of the moving member 303,
One end of an L-shaped arm 304 is attached.
The other end of the arm 304 is connected to the slider 305.

The slider 305 is supported by two shafts 306a and 306b extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the rail member 310 so as to be movable in the axial direction. Each axis 306
Both ends of a and 306b are fixed to the stacker reference wall 117.

A belt 307 is fixed to the slider 305, and the belt 307 has a driving pulley 312 and a driven pulley 31.
It is wrapped around 3. The driving pulley 312 receives a driving force from the stopper moving motor M30 as an output pulley 311.
Is transmitted through the drive pulley 31 by this driving force.
2 is rotated. The slider 305 fixed to the belt 307 as the drive pulley 312 rotates rotates the shaft 306.
It moves while being guided by a and 306b. That is, with the movement of the slider 305, the stopper 300 is moved parallel to the stacking surface of the stack tray 116 along the guide direction of the rail member 310.

The position of the stopper 300 in the direction parallel to the stacking surface of the stack tray 116 is the stack tray 1
It is set according to the size of the sheet stack loaded on 16,
Positioning with respect to the set position is performed by a detection signal from a reading sensor (not shown) of an encoder (not shown) of the stopper moving motor M30 and a detection from a home position sensor (not shown) that detects the home position position. It is performed based on the signal.

On the other hand, the stopper moving motor M30,
Since the drive pulley 312 and the driven pulley 313 are fixed to the stacker reference wall 117, the stacker reference wall 11
7 is moved up and down, the moving member 303 is moved to the stack tray 1
The stacker 16 is moved in a direction perpendicular to the stacking surface, and the amount of movement is the same as the amount of elevation of the stacker reference wall 117.

Next, the drive mechanism of the conveying system of the staple / stack device 205 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 21 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a drive mechanism of the transport system of the staple / stack apparatus of FIG. In the figure, the roller shaded in each roller pair indicates the drive side,
The other roller shows the driven side.

As shown in FIG. 21, the drive system is roughly divided into three systems, and each drive system is provided with the corresponding carry motors M14, M15, M16.

First, the carry motor M14 is used for the main body 20 of the copying machine.
It is responsible for driving the roller pair on the side closer to 1. In particular,
Each roller pair 8a, 8b, 8c for guiding the sheet material to the bin module B1 and the non-sort tray 5, and four roller pairs 8 for guiding the sheet material to the bin module B2.
h-8k are driven.

Next, the transport motor M15 receives the sheet discharge portion to the bin module B1 and drives the four roller pairs 8d to 8g.

Further, the conveyance motor M16 receives the sheet discharging portion to the bin module B2 and drives the five roller pairs 8l to 8p.

Since the portion surrounded by the broken line in the drawing is a portion which is pulled out to the front side in the case of jam treatment described later, it is possible to provide couplings 139 and 140, respectively, so that it can be separated from the driving side. Is configured. In the system driven by the transport motor M16, the lower roller is the driving side for each roller pair 8l to 8n, but the right roller or the upper roller is the driving side for each roller pair 8o to 8p. Therefore, the rotation direction thereof is opposite to that of the gear 141.

Next, the cover structure of the sheet material post-processing device 203 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 22 is a front view showing a cover configuration of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG.

The folding device 204, as shown in FIG.
It is covered with a fold cover 142. The stapling / stacking device 205 includes a fixed cover 143 that vertically covers the right side of each bin module, a front cover 144 that covers the paths 2a and 2b to the lower bin module and a part of the bundle processing unit 9, and a take-out unit. A stack tray 116 at a possible position and a stack removal cover 145 that covers the sheet bundle S on the stack tray 116, and a bin cover 1 that vertically covers the left side of each bin module.
46 and an upper pass cover 147 are provided. The upper pass cover 147 has the non-sort tray 5 and
It forms the upper surface of the path to the upper bin module.
A rotation fulcrum is provided on the back side of the upper pass cover 147,
The upper pass cover 147 is configured such that the front side opens upward in the direction indicated by the arrow K.

Next, a control system for controlling the operation of the electrophotographic copying machine 200 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the electrophotographic copying machine of FIG.

The control system for controlling the operation of the electrophotographic copying machine 200 is, as shown in FIG. 24, a CPU 2000 mounted on the copying machine main body 201 and a sheet material post-processing apparatus 2.
03 mounted on the CPU 3000 and the CPU 200
I / F 30 for communicatively connecting CPU 3000 and CPU 3000
04.

The CPU 2000 controls the entire system of the copying machine 201, controls each part corresponding to the selected mode, controls the operation of the automatic document feeder 202, and gives instructions to the sheet material post-processing device 203. Performs response control. Specifically, the CPU 2000
Operating state of copier main body 201, automatic document feeder 202
And the operating state of the sheet material post-processing device 203 notified from the CPU 3000 via the I / F 3004, and directly controls according to the monitoring result.
An instruction indicating the control content is sent to the CPU 3 via the I / F 3004.
000.

The CPU 3000 is connected to the CPU 2000
The motor driver 30 for controlling the operation of the solenoid group 3003 of the sheet material post-processing device 203 and for controlling the drive of each motor based on the instruction content notified via the / F3004 and the detection signal from each sensor group 3002.
A control instruction is given to 01.

Next, the operation of the electrophotographic copying machine 200 will be described.

First, the basic operation will be described.

First, a document is set on the document table 106 of the automatic document feeder 202. Next, a predetermined mode condition is input through the operation unit (not shown), and the start key is pressed. Each part of the sheet post-processing device 203 is controlled to be in a standby state in response to a start key press signal. The description will be made below for each mode condition.

(A) Non-sort mode In FIG. 2, the deflector 3 is positioned in the direction of the solid line and the deflector 4 is positioned in the direction of the broken line so that the roller pairs 8a, 8b, 8c existing in the discharge path 6 rotate. Conveyor motor M1
4 (shown in FIG. 19) is controlled.

The sheet discharged from the copying machine main body 201 after the image forming process passes through the upper path of the folding device 204 and enters the stapling / stacking device 205 from the carry-in port 215. The sheet is deflected vertically upward by the deflector 3, is conveyed vertically upward on the right side of the deflector 4, and is discharged onto the non-sort tray 5 by the roller pair 8c.

(B) In case of sort mode The operation in this sort mode is the operation in the general sort mode, and the operation will be described.

First, as a standby operation, the deflectors 3 and 4 are positioned so as to be oriented in solid lines. The upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2 are the uppermost bin B1
The bin shift operation is performed so that 1, 1 and B21 are positioned to face the pair of discharge rollers 8g and 8p. The alignment wall 15 of each bin module B1, B2 stands by at the home position corresponding to the width of the sheet material. The driving of the bin standing portion is controlled so as to stop at the non-operation position.

The bundle processing unit 9 moves to the position corresponding to the sheet bundle removal of the upper bin module B1 (the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 2) and stands by.

Each moving body in the bundle processing unit 9 will be described with reference to FIG.

The first-out gripper 10 stands by at the position shown in FIG. 7, and at the stand-by position, it does not interfere with the sheets on the bin when the bin is moved up and down in the bin module located on the left side of the bundle processing unit 9.

The stapler 11 moves to the front retracted position shown by the broken line in FIG. 7 without operating.

As shown by the broken line in FIG. 7, the transport gripper 12 is at a position where it grips the approximate center of the sheet bundle conveyed by the movement in the direction indicated by the arrow F, and the arrow G moves in the direction. The leading edge of the sheet bundle previously fed by the first feeding gripper 10 is waited at the position 12a where the grip is possible.

First-out gripper 10 and transport gripper 12
Stand by at their respective positions with the upper and lower grippers opened.

Next, the stack unit 13 moves to the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 2 and can receive the sheet bundle conveyed by the bundle processing unit 9. In FIG. 17, the stack tray 116 and the reference wall 117 inside the stack unit 13 are shown.
Moves to a position where the upper surface of the stack tray 116 can receive the sheet bundle or to another position corresponding to the stack tray 116, and the stopper 300 shown in FIG. 19 changes the size of the sheet bundle to be stacked on the stack tray 1116. Move accordingly.

The discharged sheet material passes through the upper path of the folding device 204, enters from the carry-in port 215, is guided to the path toward the bin module B1 by the deflectors 3 and 4, and is discharged onto the bin B11 by the roller 8g. To be done.

After the sheet is completely discharged to the bin B11, the bin is set to 1
By shifting the bin upward, the bin B12 rises to the sheet storage position. The above operation is repeated for each document, and the sheets are stored in the bin of the upper module B1. The bin of the upper module B1 is the bottom bin (B in FIG. 2).
16) The sheet is in the sheet storage position, and the second sheet material is sequentially stored from the lowermost bin.

After the above operation is repeated for all the originals, the operation of storing the original in the bin is completed.

When the sheets are completely stored, the operation of transferring the sheet bundle to the stacker is started. Advance gripper 10
Moves from the solid line position to the broken line position in an open state, as shown in FIG. 8, and then clamps the sheet bundle on the bin. Next, the alignment portion (bin standing portion) Bj shown in FIG. 6 is opened by the solenoid SL1 to form a sheet bundle conveyance port.

As for the sheet bundle, the reference side 14 of FIG.
a and 14b, and the rear side is regulated by the alignment rod 15 and the guide member 53a in FIG. The advance gripper 10 is shown in FIG.
At the position indicated by the solid line, the sheet bundle is transferred between the advance gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12.

In this delivery, first, the transport gripper 12 which has been waiting at the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 7 holds the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle. Next, the first-out gripper 10 releases the nipping, and prepares for the conveyance of the next bundle. The transport gripper 12 is driven rightward as indicated by an arrow G in FIG. 7 to transport the sheet bundle rightward, and stops at an appropriate position according to the size. In this state, as shown in FIG. 23, the rear end of the sheet bundle S is dropped on the upper surface of the stack tray 116, and the left side is regulated by the stacker reference wall 117. From this state, the transport gripper 12 is opened and the leading end of the sheet bundle is also dropped onto the stack tray 116. At this time, the right end of the sheet bundle S is regulated by the stopper 300.

Next, when the second bundle of sheets is being conveyed, the conveying gripper 12 holds the sheet bundle substantially at the center,
The operation until the transfer of the bundle between the grippers is the same as that of the first bundle, so only the subsequent operation will be described.

After the delivery of the sheet bundle, the transport gripper 12
Moves by a predetermined amount in the direction indicated by arrow F in FIG. By this movement, it becomes possible to distinguish from the first sheet bundle when stacking on the stack tray 116.

With respect to the sheet bundle stacked on the stack tray 116, the uppermost surface thereof is always detected by the sensor S23, and the stack tray 116 is arranged so that the interval between the bundle processing unit 9 located above and the uppermost stacking surface is always constant. Is gradually lowered and controlled.

The sheet bundle on the stack tray 116 can be arbitrarily taken out when the stack unit 13 is not in operation. Specifically, when the operator presses a take-out button (not shown), the stack unit 13 is moved to the take-out position, and only the stack take-out door 145 can be opened and closed.

If the cover is closed after taking out the sheet bundle, the processing can be continued.

(C) In case of staple sort mode Since the conveyance of the sheet and the sheet bundle is the same as in the case of the sort mode described above, the description thereof will be omitted.
Here, the movement control of the stapler will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 13, the stapler 11 has a retracted position 11a on the front side and a retracted position 1 on the back side.
It can be stopped at any position between 1b.

(Ci) Single-front binding mode In the non-stapling mode, the stapler 11 was at the front retracted position 11a, but when the single-front binding mode is selected, FIG. 7 and FIG. 11c shown in 13
Wait at the position. As is clear from FIG. 7, even when the stapler 11 is at the position 11c, the stapler 11 can stand by without interfering with the transport gripper 12 at the position 12a. The stapler 11 performs a stapling operation on the sheet bundle conveyed by the first-out gripper 10, and then moves to the retracted position 11a on the front side. Next, the stapled sheet bundle is transported rightward by the transport gripper 12.

When the trailing edge of the sheet bundle comes out of the moving area of the stapler 11, the stapler 11 moves again to the binding position 11c and waits for the next sheet bundle to be received.

(C-ii) Two-point binding In this case as well, as shown in FIG. 7, the stapler 11 does not interfere with the position 12a of the transport gripper 12 regardless of the positions 11d and 11e. At the time of standby for binding two places, the stapler 11 is moved from the retracted position 11a on the front side to the position 2
Move to the driving position 11d on the front side of the place and stand by.

When the sheet bundle is conveyed by the first-out gripper 10, the stapler 11 staples the sheet bundle sandwiched by the first-out gripper 10 at one position on the front side at a position 11d, and then the stapler 11 moves at a position 11e. When the sheet bundle is moved to the position and clamped by the first-out gripper 10, the two positions on the back side are stapled. Stapler 11
Is moved from the position of 11d to the position of 11e, the transport gripper 12 immediately starts entering from the standby position of 12b to the position of 12a, and holds the sheet bundle at the position of 12a. After gripping the sheet bundle by the transport gripper 12, the advance gripper 10 releases the sheet bundle.

On the other hand, the stapler 11 moves to the retracted position 11b on the inner side after the second stapling operation at the position 11e. When the rear end of the first sheet bundle passes through the staple movement area, the stapler 11 moves to the position 11.
e to receive the second bundle of sheets.

(C-iii) In the case of binding at one place in the back In this case, since the binding is performed only at the back side of the paper size center, the above operation (c-i) is reversed.
The stapler 11 reciprocates between the retracted position 11b on the back side and the binding position.

(D) Folding Mode Also in the folding mode, a sheet relatively long in the conveying direction is processed by the folding device 204 (shown in FIG. 2) by a folding operation, and the folded sheet is a normal sheet. alike,
It is discharged on a bin, selectively post-processed, and loaded on the stack unit 13.

However, in the case of origami paper, especially the so-called Z-fold having a folding part at the center of the sheet in the sheet transport direction or slightly downstream in the sheet transport direction from the center, and the C-fold for folding a legal size of an overseas size to the size of the lat, etc. When the sheets are stacked, the leading edge of the discharged origami collides with the folded portion of the already stacked origami paper and slips into it, which may disturb the alignment of the already stacked paper sheets or the discharged origami paper may not be correctly stacked. In order to eliminate such a problem, control is performed in which the uppermost bin is lowered from the normal sheet ejection position and only the uppermost bin stores origami paper.

Next, the control operation in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 25 to 34. 25 to 34 are flowcharts showing the control operation of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG.

First, the mode processing, which is the overall processing of the sheet material post-processing device 203, will be described.

Referring to FIG. 25, first, step S1 is executed in association with the start of mode processing, and in step S1,
It is determined whether or not a sorter start signal indicating that sheet ejection from the copying machine main body 201 is started is output.

If the sorter start signal is ON, it is determined in step S2 whether or not the folding mode is selected as the operation mode. If the folding mode is selected, step S3 is executed and the folding mode is changed. If not selected, step S4 is executed.

At step S3, the folding motor is turned on,
In a succeeding step S4, the entire carry motor is turned on.

Next, step S100 is executed. In step S100, a sheet processing mode discrimination process for discriminating a method of stacking / accommodating sheets on the non-sort tray / bin section of the finisher is performed. Details of the sheet processing mode determination processing will be described later.

The processing for determining the sheet processing mode indicated by the determination result of the sheet processing mode determination processing is performed in steps S5, 6, 7, and 8, and the upper sort processing (step S300) and the lower processing are performed according to the determination result. Sort processing (step S350), upper group processing (step S40)
0), the lower group process (step S450), and the non-sort process (step S200) are performed, and the process is executed. Details of each of these processes will be described later.

Upper sort processing (step S300), lower sort processing (step S350), upper group processing (step S400), or lower group processing (step S4).
50) is executed, step S500 is executed, and in step S50, the bundle processing unit 9 / stack unit 13 is executed.
A bundle processing mode determining process for determining whether or not to perform the sheet bundle conveying operation for the sheet is performed. Details of this bundle processing mode determination processing will be described later.

Next, in step S9, a judgment is made on the discrimination result by the bundle processing mode discrimination processing, and when the discrimination result by the bundle processing mode discrimination processing indicates the selection of the bundle conveying processing by the bundle processing unit 9, step S600 is executed,
When the determination result of the bundle processing mode determination processing does not indicate the selection of the bundle transport processing by the bundle processing unit 9, the processing returns to step S1 again.

In step S600, the bundle processing unit 9 /
A stacker bundle transport process for transporting the sheet bundle to the stack unit 13 is performed. In this stacker bundle transfer process,
The stapling operation of the sheet bundle is included, and the details of the stacker bundle conveying process will be described later.

After execution of step S600, the process returns to step S1 again to wait for the sorter start signal output from the copying machine main body 201 next.

Next, the sheet processing mode discrimination processing (step S100) will be described with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 26, first, step S1
01 is executed, and in step S101, it is determined whether the sheet processing mode is the sort mode.

If the sheet processing mode is the sort mode, the presence or absence of sheet paper in the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2 is confirmed in steps S105 and 107, and step S11
In 3,115, the sorting process in the bin module without sheet paper is selected as the processing mode. On the other hand, when there is a sheet of paper in each of the upper and lower bin modules,
In step S117, the non-sort mode is selected as the processing mode.

If the sheet processing mode is not the sort mode, it is determined in step S103 whether the sheet processing mode is the group mode. If the sheet processing mode is the group mode, the presence or absence of the sheet paper of the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2 is confirmed in steps S109 and 111, as in the processing after the determination for the sort mode.
In steps S119 and 121, the group processing in the bin module without sheet is selected as the processing mode. On the other hand, when there is a sheet of paper in each of the upper and lower bin modules, non-sorting processing is selected as the processing mode in step S117.

Next, non-sort processing (step S20)
0) will be described with reference to FIG.

When the non-sort mode is selected, FIG.
As shown in (2), step S201 is executed. In step S201, the deflectors 3 and 4 are switched so as to continuously discharge the sheet paper to the non-sort tray 5,
The sheet transport path 6 is selected as the transport path.

Next, step S202 is executed. In step 202, the sheet conveying operation is monitored.
A signal from a path sensor (not shown) arranged near the discharge roller 8c on the sheet conveying path 6 is monitored. In a succeeding step S203, it is checked whether or not there is a sorter start signal indicating that the sheet discharging operation is being performed, from the copying machine main body.

If it is determined in each of steps S202 and 207 that the path sensor is off and the sorter start signal is off, step S204 is executed and step S2 is executed.
In 04, the conveyance motor is stopped and the solenoids that drive the deflectors 3 and 4 are turned off. After execution of step S204, the non-sorting process ends.

Next, the upper sort process (step S300)
Will be described with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 28, first, step S3
At 01, the switching operation of the deflectors 3 and 4 is performed to store / sort the sheet paper in the upper bin module B1, and the sheet transport path 7 is selected as the transport path.

In the following step S302, it is determined whether or not the bin initial signal for storing the sheets is output from the uppermost bin, and if the bin initial signal is output,
Step S303 is executed, and if there is no output of the bin initial signal, step S304 is executed.

In step S303, the uppermost bin is lowered to the position of the roller 8g for bin initialization, and in step S304, the sheet conveying operation is monitored.
A signal from a path sensor (not shown) arranged near the roller pair 8g on the sheet conveying path 7 is monitored. When it is determined in step S304 that the ON signal is not output from the path sensor, step S312 is executed, and when the ON signal is output from the path sensor, step S305 is executed.

In step S305, the aligning wall 1 is used as a preparatory operation for aligning the discharged sheets later.
5 is saved.

When the OFF signal from the pass sensor is detected in the following step S306, step S307 is executed. In step S307, the aligning wall 15 is moved to the aligning position to align the bundle of sheets discharged onto the bin. Take action.

Then, in step S308, it is determined whether or not there is a shift direction inversion signal. If there is a shift direction inversion signal, step S311 is executed, and if there is no shift direction inversion signal, steps S309 and S310 are executed in order. It

In step S309, the alignment wall 15 is moved to the retracted position, and in the following step S310, 1-bin shift is performed.

On the other hand, in step S311, inversion processing is performed. The inversion process is a process of inverting the subsequent bin shift direction, and the bin shift operation is not performed.

Step S310 or step S311
Is executed, step S312 is executed, and step S3
At 12, it is determined whether the sorter start signal is on or off. If the sorter start signal is on, the process returns to step S304 again. If the sorter start signal is off, the carry motor is stopped in step S313, the deflector solenoid is turned off, and the sort process ends.

Next, the lower sort processing (step S350)
This will be described with reference to FIG.

When the lower sort process is selected, as shown in FIG. 29, first, step S351 is executed, and in step S351, the sheet paper is placed in the lower bin module 1B2.
In order to store / sort in the bin, the deflector 3 is switched and the second transport path 2 is selected as the transport path. Next, the processing from step S352 is executed, but the processing after step S352 is the same as the processing after step S302 of the above-described upper sort processing, and the description thereof is omitted.

Next, the upper group process (step S40)
0) will be described with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 30, first, step S3
In 01, the deflectors 3 and 4 are switched to store / sort the sheet paper in the bin of the upper bin module B1.
The sheet transport path 7 is selected as the transport path.

In a succeeding step S402, it is checked whether or not a bin initial signal for storing sheets from the uppermost bin is output. If no bin initial signal is output, step S404 is executed to output the bin initial signal. If there is, step S403 is executed.

In step S403, as the bin initialization, the uppermost bin is lowered to the position of the roller pair 8g. Next, in step S404, in order to monitor the sheet conveying operation, the signal of the path sensor arranged near the roller pair 8g on the sheet conveying path 7 is monitored. If the signal from the path sensor is an off signal, step S411 is executed,
If the signal from the pass sensor is an ON signal, step S
405 is executed.

In step S405, the aligning wall 15 is retracted to the retracted position as a preparatory operation for the aligning operation performed later on the discharged sheets.

Next, when the OFF signal from the pass sensor is detected in step S406, step S407 is executed. In step S407, the aligning wall 15 is moved to the aligning position to perform the aligning operation for the sheet bundle on the bin.

In a succeeding step S408, it is confirmed whether or not a shift request signal requesting a bin shift operation is output,
If the shift request signal is not output, step S411 is executed. When the shift request signal is output, step S
409 and step S410 are sequentially executed, the matching wall 15 is retracted to the retracted position in step S409, and the 1-bin shift is performed in subsequent step S410.

Next, in step S411, it is determined whether the sorter start signal is on or off. If the sorter start signal is on, the process returns to step S404. If the sorter start signal is off, step S412 is executed. In step S412, the carry motor is stopped and the deflector solenoid is turned off. Step S4
After the execution of 12, the upper group process ends.

Next, the lower group process (step S45)
0) will be described with reference to FIG.

When the lower group process is selected, as shown in FIG. 31, first, step S451 is executed. In step S451, the sheet paper is placed in the lower bin module B2.
In order to store / sort in the bin, the deflector 3 is switched and the second transport path 2 is selected as the transport path. Then, step S452 is executed, but step S4
The process after 52 is step S4 of the above-mentioned upper group process.
Since the processing is the same as the processing from 02, the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the bundle processing mode determination processing (step S
500) will be described with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 32, first, step S5
When 01, the sheet length in the bundle conveying direction is a specified value (for example, 36
4 mm) is determined.

When the sheet length in the bundle conveying direction is longer than the specified value, the sheet bundle is treated as a bundle processing unit 9 / stack unit 1.
Since the sheets cannot be stored in the stack 3, the non-bundle conveying process is selected as the bundle processing mode in step S503, and if the sheet length in the bundle conveying direction is within the specified value in step S502, the stacker bundle conveying process is selected. The non-bundle transport process is a process in which the bundle transport to the bundle processing unit 9 / stack unit 13 is not performed, and the sheet bundle on the bin remains in the bin. In the stacker bundle conveyance processing, the sheet bundle discharged to the bin is conveyed one bundle at a time, and the stack unit 13
This is the process of loading inside.

Next, the stacker bundle carrying process will be described with reference to FIG.
Will be described with reference to.

When the stacker bundle conveying process is selected, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, first, step S601 is executed,
In step S601, process A is started. This process A
Then, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13
Is moved to a bin module position for carrying bundles and the stopper 300 is moved to a position corresponding to the sheet material size.

In the following step S602, the process B is started. In this process B, the bin shift operation is performed to the position for carrying the bundle, and the uppermost or lowermost bin among the used bins at this time is brought to the position for carrying the bundle. Also, if the upper bin of the bins used after the shift is at the bundle transport position, the future shift direction is
If the lower bins of the used bins are in the bundle transport position, the future shift direction is set to the upper direction.

The process A and the process B can be executed at the same time, and the processing time can be shortened by executing them at the same time.

Then, step S603 is executed, and in step S603, the end of both the processing A and the processing B is waited for.

When both the processing A and the processing B are completed,
Step S604 is executed. In step S604, the first-out gripper (hereinafter referred to as SG) 10 is moved in the X direction to enter the bin, and the SG holds the bundle. Here, (X), (Y), and
(Z) indicates the moving direction of the moving member, (X) indicates the conveying direction (left-right direction) of the sheet bundle, (Y) indicates the front / depth direction when viewed from the front of the finisher,
(Z) indicates the vertical direction.

In the following step S605, in order to convey the bundle from the bin, the bin standing portion is tilted to open the sheet carry-in port. At this time, since the bundle is gripped by SG, it does not fall.

Next, in step S606, it is determined whether the staple mode is included. If the staple mode is included, step S616 is executed, and if the staple mode is not included, step S607 is executed.

In step S607, the transport gripper (hereinafter referred to as FG) 12 for transporting the bundle is moved to the bundle delivery position from SG, and in step S608 the SG is retracted from the bin to the bundle delivery position.

In a succeeding step S609, the sheet bundle held by the SG is held by the FG at the bundle delivering position.
When the FG sandwiches the sheet bundle, in step S610 SG
Delivers by releasing the sheet bundle.

Next, in step S611, the bundle is conveyed by moving the FG to the bundle stacking position, and the bin standing portion is closed in step S612.

When the FG stops at the bundle stacking position, step S613 is executed, and in step S613, the FG releases the sandwiching of the bundle to stack the stack on the stack unit 13.

Next, it is confirmed whether the sheet bundle stacked in step S614 is the final bundle of the corresponding bin module. If it is not the final bundle, a shift operation for one bin is performed in the shift direction set in step S615, and the process returns to step S604. On the other hand, if the bundle is the final bundle, the bundle conveying operation in the corresponding module ends.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S606 that the staple mode is included, step S616 is executed, and in step S616, the stapler 11 is moved to the corresponding staple position, and the subsequent step S617.
Then, the SG moves the bundle from the bin to the staple position. When the sheet bundle is moved to the stapling position, a stapling operation is performed in step S618.

Next, in step S619, it is determined whether or not the staple mode is the two-point binding mode. If the staple mode is the two-point binding mode, the stapler 11 is continuously moved to perform the stapling operation in step S620. .

In step S619, the staple mode is set to 2
If it is determined that the mode is not the stapling mode, or if the stapling operation in step S620 ends, the process proceeds to step S620.
621 is executed, and in step S621, the stapler 11 is retracted.

In the following step S622, the FG is moved to the bundle transfer position from the SG, and after the movement of the FG is completed, the process proceeds to step S609.

Next, the initialization control processing for the respective processing means of the bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9, and the stack unit 13 associated with the above-described mode processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 35 is a flow chart showing the initialization control processing of the staple / stack apparatus 205 of FIG.

When the sorter start signal from the CPU 2000 of the copying machine main body 201 is turned on, as shown in FIG. 35, first, in step S1001, it is determined whether the processing mode is the non-sort processing mode.

If the processing mode is not the non-sorting processing mode, that is, if the processing mode is the sorting mode or the group mode, step S1002 is executed. In step S1002, is the number of output copies N 7 or more based on the information from CPU 2000? If it is determined whether or not the number of output copies N is 7 or more, step S1003 is executed, and if the number of output copies N is less than 7, step S1.
007 is executed. Through the above-described steps S1001 and S1002, the processing means that requires initialization is determined. Specifically, when the processing mode is the sort mode or the group mode and the output number N is 7 or more, the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 need to be initialized. If the processing mode is determined as the processing mode, the processing mode is the sort mode or the group mode, and the output number N is less than 7, the above bin module B1, the bundle processing unit 9, and the stack unit 13 require initialization. It is judged as a means.

At step S1003, the upper and lower bin modules B, which are determined as the processing means requiring initialization,
1, B2, bundle processing unit 9 and stack unit 1
Initialization for 3 is started. The initialization contents for the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9, and the stack unit 13 are as described above according to each processing mode, and a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0218] In step S1007, the upper bin module B1, which is determined as the processing means requiring initialization,
Initialization of the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 is started.

Step S1003 or step S10
After executing 07, step S1004 is executed. In step S1004, the initialization state of the upper bin module B1 is monitored based on the detection signal from each sensor, and the completion of the initialization of the upper bin module B1 is waited. Here, it is assumed that the upper bin module B1 is used as the processing means that is first requested to start the processing operation, and the upper bin module B1 can be used without any sheets remaining in each bin.

When the initialization of the upper bin module B1 is completed, step S1005 is executed and step S10
At 05, a ready signal indicating completion of preparation is sent to the CPU 2000 of the copying machine main body 201. Continuing step S10
At 06, post-processing is started, and the operation of the upper bin module B1 whose initial stage is finished first is started. Bin module B2 or bundle processing unit 9 and stack unit 1
The initialization of 3 is completed by their operation start timing.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the processing mode is the non-sort processing (step S1001), it is not necessary to initialize the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13, and step S1 is performed.
At 008, a ready signal indicating completion of preparation is sent to the CPU 2000 of the copying machine main body 201. Continued Step S100
At 9, the roller pairs 8a, 8b, 8c are driven and the carrying process is started.

As described above, since only the processing means that need to be initialized are initialized, initialization is not performed for other processing means for which initialization is not required, and the members and parts of other processing means are homed. There is no risk of extra power consumption, increased noise, and shortened life of each member and component due to movement to a position.

At the same time as the initialization completion for the processing means which is required to start the processing operation first among the processing means requiring initialization, the CPU 2 sends a ready signal indicating the completion of preparation.
, The image forming apparatus can start the image forming operation without waiting until the initialization of the other processing means is completed, and the waiting time before the start of the image forming operation can be shortened. Therefore, the decrease in productivity of the image forming apparatus due to the initialization operation can be suppressed to a very small level.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 36 is a flowchart showing the initialization control process of the staple / stacking device in the second embodiment of the sheet material post-processing device of the present invention.

The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the initialization control processing for the respective processing means of the bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9, and the stack unit 13 involved in the respective mode processing, but the configuration and The other control is the same, and in this embodiment, an initialization control process different from the first embodiment will be described.

When the sorter start signal from the CPU 2000 of the copying machine main body 201 is turned on, as shown in FIG. 36, it is first determined in step S1011 whether the processing mode is non-sort processing.

If the processing mode is not the non-sorting processing, that is, if the processing mode is the sorting mode or the group mode, step S1012 is executed and step S1 is executed.
In 012, it is determined whether the number of output copies N is 7 or more based on the information from the CPU 2000, and the number of output copies N is determined.
Is 7 or more, step S1013 is executed,
If the number of output copies N is less than 7, step S1018 is executed. Through the above-described steps S1011 and S1012, the processing means that requires initialization is determined. Specifically, when the processing mode is the sort mode or the group mode and the output number N is 7 or more, the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 need to be initialized. If the processing mode is determined as the processing mode, the processing mode is the sort mode or the group mode, and the output number N is less than 7, the above bin module B1, the bundle processing unit 9, and the stack unit 13 require initialization. It is judged as a means.

In step S1013, the upper and lower bin modules B, which have been determined as the processing means requiring initialization,
1, B2, bundle processing unit 9 and stack unit 1
Initialization for 3 is started. The initialization contents for the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9, and the stack unit 13 are as described in each flow of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted here.

At the following step S1014, the time when all the initializations for the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 are completed is predicted, and the ready indicating the completion of preparation is made from the predicted initialization completion time. Set the signal transmission timing. In this initialization completion time prediction processing, the initialization time of the corresponding processing means is read from the initialization time table stored in the memory, and the initialization of all the processing means requiring initialization is completed from the initialization time. The time is calculated, and the time when the calculated time elapses from the initialization start time is predicted as the initialization completion time. In the ready signal transmission timing setting processing, the operation start timing of the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 is set to the timing before the initialization completion timing in time for the sheet material processing request from the copying machine main body 201. Set as the signal transmission timing.

On the other hand, in step S1018, the initialization of the upper bin module B1, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13, which are determined as the processing means requiring the initialization, is started, and the subsequent step S1019.
Then, the initialization time table is used to predict the time when all the initializations for the bin module B1, the bundle processing unit 9, and the stack unit 13 are completed, and the completion is shown from the predicted initialization completion time. Set the ready signal transmission timing. The initialization completion time prediction process and the ready signal transmission time setting process are performed in step S10.
The content is the same as that of 14.

Step S1014 or step S10
After execution of step 19, step S1015 is executed. In step S1015, the timer is monitored and the arrival of the set ready signal transmission time is awaited.

When the set ready signal sending time comes, step S1016 is executed, and step S101
At 6, the ready signal indicating the completion of preparation is sent to the CPU 2000 of the copying machine main body 201. Continued Step S101
In FIG. 7, the initialization of the upper or lower bin modules B1 and B2, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 starts the post-processing which is completed by the operation start timing, and the upper bin module B1 whose initialization is finished first. To start the operation.

If it is determined in step S1011 that the processing mode is non-sort processing, the upper and lower bin modules B1 and
B2, the bundle processing unit 9, and the stack unit 13 do not need to be initialized, and a ready signal indicating completion of preparation is sent to the CPU 2000 of the copying machine main body 201 in step S1020. In a succeeding step S1021, each roller pair 8a, 8b, 8c is driven to start the carrying process.

In this way, the time when all the initialization of the processing means that require initialization is completed is predicted, and the ready signal is sent to the copying machine main body 201 before the predicted initialization completion time comes. From the above, the image forming apparatus does not need to wait without starting the image forming operation until the initialization of the processing unit which is not required to be initialized, and the productivity of the image forming apparatus decreases due to the initialization operation. It can be kept very small.

[0235]

As described above, according to the sheet material post-processing apparatus of the first aspect, a plurality of processing means for processing the sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus and the processing means are provided respectively. An initialization unit for initialization is provided, and the determination unit determines the processing unit in the processing unit that needs initialization based on the information notified from the image forming apparatus, and the control unit initializes according to the determination result. Since the initialization means is controlled so as to initialize the processing means that needs to be initialized, it is possible to suppress an increase in power consumption, an increase in noise, and a shortening of the life of each processing means due to the initialization operation. The image forming apparatus does not need to stand by without starting the image forming operation until the initialization of the processing unit which is not required to be initialized, and suppresses the decrease in the productivity of the image forming apparatus due to the initialization operation. Can .

According to the sheet material post-processing apparatus of the second aspect, the control means monitors the initialization state of the processing means requiring initialization, and the processing operation is performed first among the processing means requiring initialization. Since the preparation completion information is sent to the image forming apparatus almost at the same time when the completion of the initialization of the processing means requested to be started is confirmed, the image forming apparatus does not wait until the initialization of the other processing means is completed. The operation can be started, and the decrease in productivity of the image forming apparatus due to the initialization operation can be suppressed to a very small level.

According to the sheet material post-processing apparatus of the third aspect, the control means predicts the time when all the initialization of the processing means requiring the initialization is completed, and before the predicted time comes. , Because the ready information is sent to the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus does not need to stand by without starting the image forming operation until the initialization of the processing unit which is not required to be initialized is completed, and the productivity of the image forming apparatus is significantly reduced due to the initialization operation. It can be kept small.

According to the sheet material post-processing apparatus of the fourth aspect, the processing means receives the sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus by a plurality of bins and sorts the sheet material by the moving operation of each bin. First processing means having a bin module, and second processing means having a bin module for receiving the sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus in a plurality of bins and sorting the sheet material by the movement operation of each bin. , A sheet material taken out from the bin, and a third processing means for stapling the taken-out sheet material, and the sheet material taken out of the bin and the sheet material processed by the third processing means are stacked. It can be composed of a fourth processing means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an electrophotographic copying machine including a sheet material post-processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing in detail the configuration of the stapling / stacking device of FIG.

3 is a perspective view showing a bin module provided in the stapling / stacking device of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing a bin module provided in the staple / stack apparatus of FIG. 1;

5 is a front view showing a bin module provided in the stapling / stacking device of FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a side view showing the configuration of a bin standing portion provided in the staple / stack device of FIG. 1. FIG.

7 is a top view showing a bundle processing unit provided in the stapling / stacking device of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the bundle processing unit of FIG. 7;

9 is a diagram showing a configuration of grip portions of a first-out gripper 10 and a transport gripper 12 of the bundle processing unit of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a driving mechanism of an advance gripper of the bundle processing unit in FIG. 7;

11 is a top view showing a driving mechanism of a transport gripper of the bundle processing unit of FIG. 7. FIG.

12 is a front sectional view showing a drive mechanism of a transport gripper of the bundle processing unit of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a left view showing a driving mechanism of a stapler of the bundle processing unit of FIG. 7;

14 is a top view showing a driving mechanism of a stapler of the bundle processing unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a top view illustrating a configuration of a stack unit provided in the staple / stack apparatus of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 16 is a front view showing a stack tray of the stack unit in FIG. 15;

17 is a front view showing a stack frame of the stack unit of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a left side view showing the stack unit shown in FIG. 15.

FIG. 19 is a top view showing the structure of the stopper of the stack unit shown in FIG. 15.

20 is a front view showing the structure of a stopper of the stack unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 21 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a drive mechanism of a transport system of the staple / stack apparatus of FIG. 1;

22 is a front view showing a cover configuration of the sheet material post-treatment device of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet bundle is conveyed into the stack unit in FIG. 15;

24 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the electrophotographic copying machine of FIG.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the sheet post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the sheet material post-processing device in FIG.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

34 is a flow chart showing a control operation of the sheet material post-processing apparatus of FIG.

35 is a flowchart showing an initialization control process of the stapling / stacking device 205 of FIG.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart showing an initialization control process of the staple / stacking device in the second embodiment of the sheet material post-processing device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 9 Bundle Processing Unit 10 Advance Gripper 11 Stapler 12 Conveyor Gripper 13 Stack Unit 200 Electrophotographic Copier (Image Forming Device) 201 Copier Main Body 203 Sheet Material Post-Processing Device 204 Folding Device 205 Staple / Stack Device 300 Stopper 2000, 3000 CPU B1 , B2 bin modules B11 to B16, B11 to B26 bins

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Hiromichi Tsujino 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shigeru Sugita 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Incorporated (72) Inventor Masaaki Sato 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet material post-processing apparatus that processes a sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus according to information notified from the image forming apparatus that forms an image on the sheet material, A plurality of processing means for processing the sheet material discharged from the sheet, an initialization means for initializing the processing means, and an initialization of the processing means based on the information notified from the image forming apparatus. A sheet material, comprising: a determining unit that determines a necessary processing unit; and a control unit that controls the initialization unit so as to initialize the processing unit that requires initialization according to the determination result. Aftertreatment device. 2. The control means monitors the initialization state of the processing means that requires the initialization and initializes the processing means that is required to start the processing operation first among the processing means that needs the initialization. 2. The sheet material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the preparation completion information is sent to the image forming apparatus almost at the same time when the completion of the conversion is confirmed. 3. The control means predicts a time when all the initialization of the processing means requiring the initialization is completed, and sends the preparation completion information to the image forming apparatus before the predicted time comes. The sheet material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material post-processing apparatus is configured to deliver the sheet material. 4. The first processing means having a bin module for receiving the sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus in a plurality of bins and sorting the sheet material by a moving operation of each bin. A second processing means having a bin module for receiving the sheet material discharged from the image forming apparatus in a plurality of bins and sorting the sheet material by a moving operation of each bin; and a sheet material from the bin. A third processing means for taking out and performing stapling processing on the taken-out sheet material, and a fourth processing means for stacking the sheet material taken out from the bin and the sheet material processed by the third processing means. 4. The sheet material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a processing means.